I'll be honest, I don't read manga a lot, and when I do, this is generally what I try to avoid. I was actually pretty tempted to drop it after the first chapter, but what really pulled me through was Yukino. It feels weird that I liked her, because I generally don't like girls led along by sexual harassment. Yukino is different though. She's her own person and she doesn't just allow Ryuu to take advantage of her. If she does, it's because she wants to allow him to take advantage of her. Even when he's on top of her, grabbing her wrists so she can't struggle, I never really felt like she was being abused. More that this is what she wanted, but she couldn't express it. I understand entirely how utterly creepy what I just said was but there really isn't a better way to put it, but as the manga progresses, you come to understand that's what it was, as Yukino's experience makes it easier for her to tell Ryuu what she wants of him and what she doesn't; something she was too shy to do at the start.
Ryuu, the second part of the main couple, is a jerk. I'm sorry, any fangirls this series may have but I just don't like him. I admire he loves Yukino enough that he won't bang her right off the bat... but in the end, that's exactly his goal; to bang her! He doesn't even try to hide it, private or public. To me, he's the stereotypically "perfect bishounen" in every way, and my god the lengths this manga goes to beat into me how perfect he is. The manga tries way too hard to make him perfect, but as the story progressed, I began to think that was the point. When he's alone with Yukino, free of his perfection, there's something human there; selfish, but human. And really, Yukino's just as selfish as he is, so its clear to see how they gravitate to one another constantly despite how they clash.
As a story of Yukino learning to love Ryuu, it works. I can't explain it but it does. It has just the right amount of sincerity to both characters that I can believe they have chemistry rather than Yukino having Stockholm syndrome. The whole business aspect was boring and distracting, I thought, and I didn't much care for some parts near the end such as the cultural festival that felt more like padding in an otherwise well-paced short love story.
So I don't really have too strong feelings one way or another for characters or story, but the art definitely needs some work. The early chapters looked rather spotty and I never really got used to Ryuu's character design. Hell, those lips made me think he was always wearing lipstick. It's just too brash a style to work for guys. On the contrary, I thought it worked pretty well for Yukino's character design, but because it's from Yukino's perspective, and the manga constantly wants me to look at Ryuu, it has to be in the lower end of the spectrum. Learn to draw guys' lips, Mitsuki Kako!
On the whole though, I kind of liked this. It may be that I don't read stuff like this much, but there was a genuine enjoyment to be had to seeing Yukino grow in her romance. Don't get me wrong, this is still trashy shoujo, but it's decent, bordering on good trashy shoujo.
Overall, I give Kiss/Hug a 6 out of 10.
